Page 61 of Love Bank
“That’s a lot of damnation in one sentence, Lucy. Might want to be careful, considering we’re cruising through Hell.”
The car in front of me lurched forward and I untangled my hand from Bain’s to shift into first gear to follow. He just put his hand back on my thigh, riding high under my skirt. The scratch of his callouses on that sensitive skin made me squirm in my seat. Maybe dinner was a bad idea. I could think of at least ten things that hand could to do me back at home that was far nicer than a public drive through.
“How about we drag ass back home instead?” I waggled my eyebrows, hoping he’d catch on to my suggestion and be properly swayed to give up our plans for the evening.
Instead of taking me up on my generous offer, he pulled his hand out from under my skirt and looked straight ahead with quite the stony expression.
Ah shit, he’s done with me already.
My stomach lurched and dinner sounded like the worst idea in my present condition. Maybe he was just taking me out to dinner as a final farewell. A “I had a good time but now it’s over” dinner. Now I knew the expiration. Three weeks. That was the extent of my sexcapades with Bain.
I reached the stop sign, pausing and letting the other traffic go before putting it into first again and creeping onto Main Street. My head started to pound like all the blood flow was now in my skull, fighting to figure out a way to get out of this scenario. I didn’t need a public breakup. Not that we’d been dating for real anyway.
“Smile, sweetheart, or people will think I’m a bad date,” Bain teased me, his hand coming to cover mine on the shifter. He winked at me and then turned to smile and wave at someone on the sidewalk outside Hell’s Tavern. Was this all for show?
“Well, will you look what little gold nugget turned up tonight!”
Poppy’s loud voice reached me over the sound of my engine. Not hard considering we were only going two miles per hour following the long line of cars. She gave me a huge wink and then turned her sharp eyes to Bain, drinking him in greedily. I could see the questions forming in that head of hers and knew I’d have an extended visit from her at the clinic tomorrow when she delivered Saturday’s mail.
We made it down Main in similar fashion, seeing pretty much everyone I’d ever known from Auburn Hill. More than once we got a hoot and a holler about the two of us being together in my little convertible. As soon as we turned off Main, I released a huge sigh. I felt like I’d just driven down a social gauntlet, coming out relatively unscathed on the other end aside from an anxiety level not healthy for chances of longevity.
Bain’s laughter hit my ears and I scowled at him, knowing he’d done that drive through Hell on purpose too.
“What’s your deal, Warden of Wanktown? You out to kill me before I’m forty?”
He only hooted louder as I drove around side streets, making our way to a restaurant just a few miles out of town along the coastline. If I hurried, we could make the reservations Bain said he made for seven.
I pulled into the parking lot and put the car in park, turning her off and swiveling to face Bain. He finally sobered enough to talk. I opened my mouth to light into him, to get him to state firmly what we were doing here tonight because my nerves couldn’t take any more second-guessing.
Bain took the reins before I could speak, holding my hands in his and staring into my eyes like he had a huge confession. His features, so familiar to me now, went hazy around the edges. I tried to hold on to his image in perfect clarity, needing to memorize every detail in case this was it. His shoulders were so big and broad in my tiny car, it felt like he took up all the oxygen too.
“Lucy, I’ve waited a few weeks like you asked. We’ve seen each other every single day and I still haven’t gotten enough of you. I think about you all the time, even when I should be focused on all the things I said I wanted with this move to Auburn Hill. You’re distracting me to no end, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t know how I got to this place after you blackmailed me over my swimmers, but I can’t deny it any longer. I’m—well, I’m in love with you.”
His words sounded choked, like they got stuck in his throat on the way out into the sound waves. Which I understood, because now they were stuck in my head, echoing over and over, yet not making any sense.
“You’re not cutting off my sex access?” I asked, the question coming out far too loud and disjointed for the small space and the intimate moment.
23
Lucille
Bain sputtered and then coughed, still not releasing my hands. If anything, the look in his eyes went even more steely, like he was ready for a fight.
I squeezed my eyes shut, needing just a second without his eyes burning a hole in my head and discombobulating me. It wasn’t every day a gorgeous man told you he loved you and I needed a minute or three years to come to terms with it.
My head was no help, simply spinning the words over and over, so I checked in with my body. There was a bit of a pukey feeling in my gut, but it was paired with a racing heart and a flush to my skin normally only present when Bain was sliding into me and whispering dirty words in my ear.
“Lucy? You okay?” Bain called to me from a million miles away.
“Hush. I’m consulting my body.” I still had my eyes shut and refused to open them until I had a definitive answer.
“Okaaaay. You let me know when you’re ready to continue our conversation. I’ll just be over here dying a slow death,” Bain answered dryly.
His humor flowed over me, mixing with what I was beginning to identify as excitement. Maybe even elation. Perhaps euphoria. In fact, I felt exactly like the moment after that goat brushed against me and I spoke the bald truth for the first time. Except better.
Holy shit.
I loved him back.
